Air Force to Retire Iconic Predator Drone

As the Air Force moves to an all MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted combat aircraft fleet, it will officially retire the MQ-1 Predator in 2018, the service announced last week . To prepare, some units — such as the 20th Attack Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri — will halt flight operations July 1. “Right now, the plan is to stop flying the MQ-1 in 2018, and that means we need to get transitioned this year,” the 20th Attack Squadron commander, identified only as Lt. Col. James, said in a release. “As part of that, we are going to stop flying the MQ-1 completely by July 1, 2017. We will gradually stand up our number of combat lines on the MQ-9 so by the end of the year we are only an MQ-9 squadron.” The Air Force has 93 Reapers and 150 Predators in its inventory. Both aircraft are made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego. Moving from the MQ-1 — wh...